Pyrolysis is classed as incineration. According to the EU Definition 2000/76/EC, Article 3(4), incineration plant means, “Any stationary or mobile technical unit and equipment dedicated to the thermal treatment of wastes with or without recovery of the combustion heat generated. This includes the incineration by oxidation of waste as well as other thermal treatment processes, such as pyrolysis, gasification...”
WE ARE CONCERNED:
Oakhurst Residents’ Association (ORA) have been trying to ascertain the facts about what kind of waste–to-energy facility is going to be installed at Tadpole Farm/Chapel Farm (TF/CF) for the last few months. The latest information received from the local Ward Councillors has been that, “the methane from the existing landfill site will be used to generate heat for a district heating scheme at TF”. This would, in all probability, enable any potential developers to improve their sustainability code rating and boost their chances of being successful in the planning process.
ORA have asked repeatedly whether any municipal solid waste (MSW) will be used in this process and have been told ‘no’. However, after the publication of the proposed Wiltshire and Swindon Proposed Submission Draft Waste Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD) and some detective work from ORA members the Council have confirmed this week that residual waste will almost certainly be used at some stage to power a new pyrolysis plant which will be constructed as part of the Tadpole Farm development and Chapel Farm expansion. There will be five pyrolysis plants constructed at various sites across Swindon (the first one at Waterside) as part of the Borough Council’s corporate waste policy which was first conceived in 2005.
Pyrolysis plants use, as yet, unproven technology in the UK by heating waste to very high levels without using oxygen. The individual pyrolysis modules are the size of a large skip and are housed in an industrial building (the size of this building will be determined by the number of modules used). To maximise their efficiency and cost-effectiveness any module would have to run most of the time with industry experts advising us that this could be 24 hours a day.
Residual waste will be brought to the site by lorries where it will have to be stored until it is ground up into small pieces and fed into the plant. When the local sources of residual waste begin to run down then waste will be brought in from other locations across the country.
ORA have the following concerns: (some of these concerns are taken directly from the Borough’s DPD):
1. Not once have any of our elected representatives, Borough Officers or representatives from the developers been open and transparent about what the waste-to –energy plant was going to be fed by, despite two public meetings and smaller committee-led discussions with them. As the pyrolysis pre-feasibility study had already been carried out by a European contractor for the Borough in 2010, identifying Tadpole Farm as a site, then why was this information not disseminated to our members or to other community groups/Parish Councils. In fact, the planning department had requested that the DPD was discussed at the recent North Swindon community forum (held last week) and yet this item was removed from the agenda.
2. The developers put in a submission to an additional consultation to the Wiltshire and Swindon Waste DPD in 2010 seeking to, “strike out the allocation of those parts of the Chapel Farm landholding...comprising a range of potential uses including composting, a materials recovery facility, inert waste recycling and transfer and local recycling”....Longer term ‘Energy from Waste’ operations also suggest themselves....These operations would represent ‘bad neighbour’ uses through odour, noise and visual impact on a future Tadpole Farm community...The Waste Site Allocations DPD has therefore introduced a strong potential for conflict”. However, in the Swindon Link magazine in the July 2011 edition a Borough Council planning officer is quoted as saying, “We are keen to investigate the opportunities of utilising Chapel Farm as a resource to generate energy and (developers) are happy to work with us on this”.
3. There are extensive pre-treatment processes required to be able to handle MSW. Best results are obtained from single stream wastes such as sewage sludge, plastics, wood, tyres or agricultural wastes but where MSW is to be used it should be pre-sorted to remove the majority of the non-organics and processed to homogenise the feedstock.
4. A new direct site access will need to be provided off the existing private access road into the site. A transport assessment should be submitted with a planning application to identify the measures that will be taken to adequately mitigate or compensate for the anticipated transport and related environmental impacts of the proposal. ORA are worried that even if a planning application predetermines a route to be taken by the site traffic that this will be difficult to enforce and local roads are bound to be affected by waste transport.
5. There isn’t a stable market for the by-products of carbon char and ash and this may have to be disposed of in landfill sites.
6. Many processes may still require residues to be disposed of, some of which, from flue gas treatment, could be hazardous in nature.
7. The technology is unproven in the UK on a commercial scale using MSW and there is patchy experience overseas.
8. The emissions to air are primarily carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide.
9. Due to the proximity to housing there will be a need for acoustic screening and any proposed development in the northern part of the site will require further noise assessment.
10. Dust, bioaerosol and odour mitigation will be required and an assessment carried out for Particulate Matter (PM10) and dust. Often these types of plant give out a distinctive smell associated with the process.
11. Visual impacts on surrounding residences will need to be mitigated through sensitive site planning and screen planting.
12. There are number of non-main river watercourses adjacent to the site and therefore the risk exists for potentially contaminating land uses in the area.
13. This will use an existing greenfield site abutting Tadpole Farm (to the North West) and the site is not allocated for development within the adopted Swindon Borough Local Plan.
